Anish Kapoor in “London” – Art21 (video 12:23)
Anish Kapoor
Indian, 1954- (active England)
Turning the World Inside Out, 1995
stainless steel sculpture
60 x 70 in. (diam.) 1 ton 898.16 lb.
SBMA, Museum purchase, 20th Century Art Acquisition Fund and funds provided by Eli and Leatrice Luria and the Luria Foundation, Lillian and Jon B. Lovelace, Smith Richardson and the Grace Jones Richardson Trust, and the SBMA Visionaries
1998.48
RESEARCH PAPER
This highly polished, oval shaped, cast stainless steel sculpture was purchased by the SBMA in 1998 to strengthen its contemporary collection for the then new Suzette Morton Davidson Gallery. The search for a work of a world class contemporary artist culminated in purchase of this sculpture from the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York. It was one of a limited edition of three, the second being in a museum in the Netherlands and the third in a private American art collection.
The artist, Anish Kapoor, was born in Bombay in 1954. His early education was in India. Then at age 18 he enrolled in engineering school but only for six months. His artistic bent prevailed and he emigrated to England where he studied painting at Hornsay College of Art in London from 1973-77. Immediately thereafter he went to graduate school at Chelsea School of Art also in London to become a sculptor. He has continued in England as an independent artist without an institutional affiliation. In 1980, at age 26, he began showing and selling his work internationally through private galleries. The breadth of his international appeal is impressive with gallery showings in London, New York, Paris, Cologne, Oslo, Basel, Venice, Milan, Madrid, Sydney, Hanover, Toronto and Tel Aviv.
"Turning the World Inside Out" has the magnetic quality of drawing the viewer into it. In that sense it is truly an interactive work of art. The overall mirrored surface reflects the viewer’s image and compels attention caused by movement of the approaching person. This attraction is compounded if there is a group of lookers. Each reflected figure is distorted because of the curved surface. This piques interest causing the individual to look for himself in the mirror and perhaps be amused or even repulsed by seeing fatness, thinness, or distorted facial features.
Individual or group reflection is first seen on the outer circumference of the piece but then seen again in small scale on the upper lip of the top orifice which leads to negative space within the sculpture. This cavity greatly enhances the magnetic qualify of the work pulling the viewer for a closer look at what might be inside the hole. The two sets of reflected images lead to an expectation of something equally interesting to see within the cavity. That expectation is unfulfilled however with nothing more to see than an internal void. This phenomenon might be interpreted as symbolizing a truism of life. Rising expectations are often followed by disappointment.
The large size of the sculpture, approximately five feet by six feet in elliptical diameter, requires a center-of-the-room placement where it can be seen in a walk around. Standing still while looking at the piece is almost impossible. Instinctively the viewer interacts with the piece by circling it. In similar terms the smooth shiny surface almost cries out to be touched.. Some fingerprints left as evidence of interactive visitations would seem appropriate. Museum "no touch" rules inhibit full appreciation of the sensual nature of this work. It needs to be touched.
The sleek form of "Turning the World Inside Out" is not typical of Kapoor’s other sculpture. The polished metal of this piece is almost unique among his work. Typically what he does can e described as sculptured piles of cement, earth, chalk dust, and polystyrene held together by resin. Sculptures usually appear to be growing out of the floor or wall with no use of display pedestals. They may take the shape of geometric cones, domes, or biomorphic shapes such as miniature mountains. Vivid pigment is applied in primary colors of blue, yellow and red plus black and white. Another genre of materials often used by Kapoor is primitive blocks of limestone or sandstone sculpted with holes, tunnels, and cavities. If there is any unifying motif in Kapoor’s work it might be the placement of holes in the medium which draw the viewer into the piece. In that sense, "Turning the World Inside Out" is typical of his style.
Although extremely simple in it circular form the sculpture is rich in symbolism. The title directly labels it as representing the earth. However the oval shape rather than a perfectly round shape evokes the symbolism of an egg which is fertile and nurturing as the world has been to mankind. The cavity leitmotif is also suggestive of the femininity of "mother" earth. The reflected images of viewers on the mirrored surface might represent the earth’s population concentrated at certain points, not evenly distributed and ever moving. These symbolic metaphors compliment the period during which this piece was executed – the mid-1990’s. During that time there was growing concern in developed countries that the earth’s resources were dwindling and being wasted or misused. Environmentalism came to the fore during this time and representations in art related to appreciation of the earth and its resources were appropriate.
These symbolic representations are offered as possibilities but they are not those intended by the artist. He had no such messages in mind. At a Milan exhibit of this piece and others in 1995 Kapoor was asked what he wanted the viewer to come away with after seeing his work. His quoted response – "As an artist I feel that I do not have anything to say, so I do not want you to feel anything in particular. My work is not about my life history. It is not about the story of my neurosis. My work is something else. So you come to it with the things you come to it with and you take away what is possible for you to with the baggage you bring." So much for finding meaning as intended by the artist. His intent was / is for viewers to interpret for themselves.
In summary "Turning the World Inside Out" offers eye catching simplicity coupled with the discovery of visual surprises and an opportunity for provocative personal interpretations of meaning.
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Bibliography
1. Santa Barbara Museum of Art Curatorial File, 1998
2. Contemporary Artists 4th Edition , St. James Press, Detroit, 1996
3. Monograph Fondadzione Prada , November 1995
Copy right 1996 Edizione Charter Milan
4. Sculpture Volume 15, No. 2 Feb 1966 pp. 22-23
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
Born in India, the son of an Indian Punjabi Hindu father and Baghdadi Jewish mother, Anish Kapoor relocated to England as young adult to pursue art. This sculpture, which turns the world into a navel, relates to the artist’s background. In the Hindu creation story, a lotus flower grows from Lord Vishnu’s navel. A seated Brahma emerges from the flower and transforms it into the Heavens, Earth and Sky. In ancient Greece, the navel was called "omphalos", which also meant source of the world or center of the earth. With its mirrored stainless steel surface, the massive object merges with its surrounding space.
- Contemporary Gallery Opening, 2021